Tag: Education around the world

A former Soviet Republic nestled in the Caucasus Mountains, Azerbaijan is growing at breakneck speed thanks to profits from a recently completed oil pipeline. The country’s GDP is one of the fastest-growing in the world, having doubled in the last seven years.

Chile is attracting attention because of its early childhood development programmes. Many credit former President Michelle Bachelet, a paediatrician by training, who made universal access to early childhood development her emblematic project. Under her rule, Chile increased the number of statebuilt preschools from 781 to 4 300.

Roma people, often called gypsies, have been persecuted for centuries. Today, in Hungary, say civil rights activists, segregation still exists. Two hundred primary schools across the country serve only Roma families. Non-profit organisation Chance for Children reported last year that non-Roma families can afford to enrol their children in more affluent schools. Roma families are more likely to end up in economically disadvantaged communities – the collapse of communism hit this sector of the population the hardest.

According to a Syrian education consultant, speaking recently on a major news network, this country’s education system is one of the “most stressed in the world”.
The most pressing problem in Syria, say researchers, is the increasing number of students: 60% of Syria’s population is under 25, and facilities cannot match demand. At Damascus University, where over 120 000 students are enrolled, lectures are so packed that latecomers lose out and tests take the form of multiple choice.

In December 2010, television stations and newspapers showed footage of a frightened Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and his wife Camilla, caught in the midst of an angry student protest against the ‘tuition vote’ – proposed increases in university fees. It is predicted that fees will rise in 2012 as high as £9 000.

Turkey may be across the globe from us, but the country faces many similar education challenges to South Africa, such as large classes, lack of administrative cohesion and repeated alterations to policy.

Back in Britain, Ashmount Primary School in Islington, north London, has taken outsourcing to new heights. It has decided to use call-centre staff based in India to deliver extra Mathematics tuition to struggling students.